Contacting Maryrose Lyons:

My good friends Joan and Anu are great hosts. I love getting an invite to a gathering at their place. They are always tune-filled events with all sorts of eclectic people who just gel; where there is a buzz in the room as connections are made, laughs are had, and minds are often expanded.

It was at one of these events, a long time ago, that I first heard of this phrase about ideas, and it kind of stuck with me ever since. It was the first thing that came into my mind when I read this year’s theme for Congregation.

Average people talk about people.

Great people talk about people’s ideas.

Extraordinary people talk about ideas.

There is nothing wrong with being Average, so you long as you don’t realise you’re it! The rise of the Influencer has been fuelled by Average people – people who are more interested in watching and following other people’s lives. I felt terribly sad recently when a wedding organiser told me that she has a large number of brides-to-be who want a wedding just like the one she did for a well known celebrity influencer. Right down to the choice of napkins… isn’t that sad? That the one day you’re standing in front of your most loved ones, with your loved one, celebrating each other, that you are copying someone else’s style and taste, not making any of these decisions yourself?

I wonder if it was always like this?

Before Instagram, pre-YouTube, when there was no constant soundtrack of other people’s lives, were there in fact more Great people sitting around talking about other people’s ideas?

Did social media bring about the end of people’s ideas by pushing us to a mass viewing of other people’s lives? Or did TV do that decades before with soaps?

So the middle level of being great and talking about other people’s ideas – I imagine that is a smallish layer. It would get pretty boring talking about other people’s ideas for a long time and not really having any yourself. Surely you’d move on to the next level – or fall back into being Average. But while you’re there, you do have a role of sorts. To promote those ideas that you deem worthwhile. To be behind a push of ‘ideas worth spreading’ to borrow from TedTalks. It’s from those very TedTalks that inklings can turn into movements. Ideas that gain mass support can often in this place.

And so to the level of being Extraordinary! What a wonderful place – or maybe not? Many of this year’s submissions contain health warnings about not spending too much time on ideas… not getting caught up in producing ideas with no outcomes… … the downsides of always idea generating.

So where would you rather be?

Part of the tribe of Watchers?

Part of the Great who are Pushers?

Or one of those magical idea creators …

You’re here. You’re reading this. Whether you agree or disagree, you are at least not watching reruns of “Love Island” and flicking through your instafeed. Congratulations! Don’t be afraid of it. Let’s have the crazy conversations, and see where it takes us.